Design for Wi‑Fi 6 (IEEE 802.11ax) to enable
distributed Wi-Fi

Everyone has experienced connectivity issues when multiple family members
try to stream bandwidth-intensive videos or games on their devices at the same
time. A truly connected smart home, with the capacity for various users
and connected devices streaming simultaneously, is getting closer to reality.
With the Wi‑Fi 6
(802.11ax) standard expected to be released in 2019, it’s exciting to
envision how our homes will have the capability and capacity for so much more,
all connected wirelessly.

Although earlier versions of the Wi-Fi standard provided increased data
rates, other challenges remained, including reliable range and avoiding interference. The Wi-Fi industry used multiple technologies, such as
repeaters or power line extenders, to try to overcome these
issues, but it appeared we couldn’t have it all — reliable range, high data rate and no interference. The capacity continued to be constrained.

Using a repeater inherently adds interference and can result in a poor
user experience, even if it does minimally extend the range. Instead, we
believe that distributing Wi-Fi or placing a pod in every room is a better approach to yield whole-home coverage. In
short, you equip every room in a house with a pod that serves as a wireless
access point. The pod connects to the router, which then connects to the
internet.

Wi‑Fi 6
(802.11ax) will address the need for capacity, facilitating
more efficient use of available bandwidth to carry more data. This will
support these pods, creating worry-free connectivity — and a more
efficient, distributed Wi-Fi indoor infrastructure for our smart homes. And
families can then have the maximum data rate to run all apps at the same
time.

Keep data rates and data hierarchy in
balance

Today’s Wi-Fi connectivity is bottlenecked by the speed of the data
connection to the home. Namely, the speed of data coming into the house is
much lower than the transmissions possible in between smart devices and
access points. Wi-Fi speeds can be in gigabits per second, but if the connection to the home is way less than that, what good does it do?

Even if you have 7 Gb/s between devices, the home access is only working
at 100 Mb/s. The hierarchy is out of balance, as shown in the following
figure.

So, with next-generation technology and Wi‑Fi 6, we
expect to see improvements to wireless indoor architecture and long-term
upgrades to infrastructure, to meet customer demand. As a result, a shake-up of data rates and a re-establishment of the data
hierarchy should create data connections that make more sense.

Evolve to an enhanced "pod in every room" design strategy to create smart homes with IoT

A smart home relies on both Wi-Fi and the IoT to connect and communicate.
But the IoT isn’t simple — it involves a control database, data
communication and a user-friendly interface. Smart homes as a
service rely on sensors to track data, sometimes collected to a cloud to
analyze it, and notify users when things are not normal within their
environment. Today’s homes can have 10 Wi-Fi devices, but smart home
sensors could reasonably increase this number to 50-100.

To achieve a truly connected smart home, an enhanced "pod in every room" design serves as the best approach to achieve this distributed Wi-Fi
architecture with IoT communications. Because every pod serves as a wireless
access point, every access point will support Wi-Fi and IoT standards. This
includes the home’s increased Wi-Fi requirements as well as Zigbee® and
Bluetooth® devices. These devices could even be controlled via audio/voice
assistance on command.

With Wi‑Fi 6 (802.11ax), all devices would talk to the wireless router on
multiple channels. This design eliminates the need for extra gateways or
multiple Ethernet/cable/fiber connections installed within the home to link a mesh system.

In addition, with a pod in every room, there is no need for meshing Zigbee
and Bluetooth technology anymore, and that makes a big difference. No meshing means
longer battery life for the devices, simple setup and troubleshooting
processes, and lower costs for the user. This enhanced quality of service (QoS) would also help reduce service calls and in-person technician
visits for the provider.

Ultimately, the pods would offer more channels and connect IoT devices
smoothly and easily. And the increased connectivity would propagate the IoT
with sensors, devices and audio assistance, creating a smart home.

Strengthen the IoT with distributed
Wi-Fi that includes all wireless technology options

Distributed Wi-Fi will support high- and low-speed devices in every room.
As modern home network access systems download and buffer content
through the connection to the house, installing distributed Wi-Fi with
high-capacity capabilities can move that content through the house faster,
with better quality, making multiple users happier.

But at the end of the day, the value is not in the specific technology
used — as wireless communications will be easier with all relevant
technologies embedded in a single pod. The value, however, will be in
addressing consumer demand for more seamless connectivity, with support for
all technologies, and ensuring IoT devices contribute to a truly smart home
environment.

Want to learn more about distributed Wi-Fi? Listen to our recorded webinar for more details,
including standards, security, privacy and legislation.

Have another topic that you would like Qorvo experts to cover? Email your
suggestions to the Qorvo Blog team and it
could be featured in an upcoming post.

About the Author

Cees LinksGeneral Manager, Wireless Connectivity Business Unit

Cees Links (pronounced "Case") was the founder and CEO of GreenPeak Technologies, acquired by Qorvo in 2016.
He is a pioneer of the wireless data industry, a visionary leader bringing the world of mobile computing and continuous networking together. In 2017, he was honored as a Wi-Fi pioneer with the Golden Mousetrap Lifetime Achievement Award by Design News.